With All My Heart, Forever
by prettymuchquixotic
Summary: 'DRACO I LOVE YOU' Hermione finally spoke the words out. It had been ages and Draco had been waiting for her to say it even though they knew how they felt about each other, but now here she was, on her knees...
1. Chapter 1

**With All My Heart, Forever.**

**PREFACE**

'Please… Please… Draco, don't leave. DRACO!' Hermione pleaded, pouring her heart out, begging him to stay. If normal words were magical, if her pleas were turned into spells, he would turn back and maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay again. But those were just but _if's_. In their hearts they both knew that the situation was not even the slightest bit okay, and they were far from returning to where they started, far from being happy. Hermione knew that Draco would not turn back, that her grey-eyed lover would not glance at her direction once more, because the decision was harder for Draco to make than for Hermione to accept.

'DRACO I LOVE YOU!' Hermione finally spoke the words out. It had been ages and Draco had been waiting for her to say it even though they knew how they felt about each other, but now here she was, on her knees, using love as her final resort to make him stay. That was her last blow, the last bullet in a gun, the last live used in a video game. It was a gamble for Hermione to say it, but she did not care. She could not bear the sight of him leaving, especially when she knew the reason why.

Draco Malfoy stopped in his tracks. His heart stopped the second Hermione screamed it out, the very moment that she confessed her love for him. Every inch of him was aching to turn back, run to her, pick her up from the ground and hold her tight in his warm embrace. It was as if there was a vacuum in his gut, sucking every bit of him, leaving him in a trembling state.

'Granger,' he finally muttered out. He decided to keep his reply as cold as possible. Any slip of the tongue may cause him to give in to his desire to stay. Both sides knew that he didn't want to go, yet Draco made it seem as if he had been forced into the decision, which was completely false.

'If I ever had a heart to give,' he sighed. He was unable to do this, but he had to.

'That heart, would completely, and only, belong to you,' he took in a deep breath. His heart held heavy in his chest, but he willed himself not to let out a sniffle, nor a sob.

'Because from all of the days that I have lived' he shuddered when he exhaled.

'And all the days that I will live' he painfully spoken out.

'The only days I will hold on to'

'Will be the ones, which I had spent'

'With, _you_' and with that, he walked away quickly. Hermione broke into tears again.

_I love you too, Hermione, with all my heart. Forever._ He muttered to himself as he walked out, tears streaming down his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**MALFOY'S ISLAND**

Running had never been one of Hermione Granger's strengths, but now she had no choice. She could have just Apparated away but she did not wish to be in a place she was a stranger to. She couldn't go to a place where she was familiar with because she wanted to be able to go back to those places sometime in the future without the feeling of being followed. Brilliant as she was, she was finding it extremely hard to think and run at the same time. Not to mention the amount of fear that she had to handle at the moment. Never again was she going to be dragged back to Malfoy Manor. Never again was she going to be tortured by Bellatrix LeStrange. _Never again_, she promised herself.

She had been running in the woods with black smoke following behind her for the past ten minutes. Bellatrix LeStrange was never the sane sort to immediately catch her prey to kill it. She enjoyed slowly driving her victim mad, whether it was by the Cruciatus Curse of just driving them crazy, it was pleasurable for her to bring misery to others.

Hermione found her legs giving out on her and she started to slow down. Out of nowhere a pair of strong arms grabbed her and covered her mouth. She struggled to free herself of her capturer's grip but it was like moving a tree firmly rooted to the ground. Under panic, she tried to scream but her capturer whispered into her ear to calm down and not make a sound.

'I'm going to let you go now, but when I do, don't even think of moving' a manly voice said. Now, Hermione knew immediately who it was. She felt both confused and scared at the same time.

The person loosened his grip on Hermione and turned her around so that now they were facing each other.

'Malfoy let me go!' she said just a tad too loud to cause him to cover her mouth again.

'Shh' he signalled with his index finger. He held on to her and then they disapparated.

In a blink of the eye Hermione saw that they were at the beachside. The calm waves splashing against the beautiful golden sand, as the sun was almost setting from the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, a calming one too. Behind her was a jungle, which looked as if it went on forever, and however dangerous it looked, it gave her some solace in thinking that no Death Eater was waiting in those heavy bushes to ambush her at any moment. The jungle looked far too dangerous to hold a person. Even so, Hermione was in such a panicked state that she trembled to the ground as Draco apparated them here.

'Need a hand?' Draco offered. He was not the boy that Hermione saw a few days ago at the Manor. The Draco that stood before her was certain of himself, brave, as if all the darkness inside him has been washed out of him. It was such a drastic change, even Hermione herself could feel it. The horrible person that she thought she knew since she was eleven was nonexistent in the person that was there. It was hard to explain, but it was as if the aura around him has changed.

Hermione ignored Draco and stood up by herself, dusting off sand from her clothes. She was not ready to trust Draco Malfoy. After all, how could she? How was she sure that he would not just hex her when she was off guard. His sudden change did not mean anything to her. After all, Draco was always the ladies man, and a fair actor as the matter of fact. He could make any girl feel butterflies in their stomach, and although the 'new' Draco seemed harmless, it was hard to tell because it seemed like he was shrouded in mist. Was he playing her?

'Wow Granger, do I not at least deserve thanks? I would have expected you to bend down and kiss my toes but now you're just being plain rude' he said bluntly. However nice Draco may act, he still had a massive ego, one that usually affected the words he chose, but that was all part of the ol' Malfoy charm.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and looked around for a landmark or any sign of a town nearby. All she saw was a chalet by the seaside. It was a holiday home, she presumed.

'Like what you see?'

'What will it take for you to go away?'

'Ouch Granger, that almost hurt. First you don't thank me and now you're asking me to leave from the place which _I _brought you to? Wow, and I thought my aunt was mad, and need I remind you that I _did_ save you from her?'

Hermione was frustrated and confused. She was on the brink of exploding at Malfoy and hexing him into the next universe but she could not bring herself to do so because after all he was right, he did save her from Bellatrix.

'Goddamnit Malfoy! What do you want? If it's that important to then here, THANK YOU for saving me. Now would you _please_ leave, or at least tell me where we are so that I can leave instead, out of my graciousness.'

'Calm down Granger, don't need to get your want in a knot. Since you're so unappreciative of my help, then I absolutely refuse to help you anymore. You can wander around the island until you drop dead for all I care. _I_ on the other hand will be in there when you come to begging for help' Draco pointed to the chalet.

'Well that is very well played Malfoy. Now I know that we are on an island, _and_ that you are going to be in that chalet. For a person who is in utter refusal to help me, you sure are doing quite the opposite. After all, if I do want your help I can just destroy the chalet and we'll both be stranded here. Now if you would excuse me, I would like to Disapparate out of here.'

Draco felt as if he had been outsmarted by the Muggle-born, again. In his entire life in Hogwarts, not only has he lost to the bushy-haired brunette on paper, but through every competitive aspect possible, except for blood, that is, and so Draco took consolation in knowing that he was always more superior that Hermione Granger regardless of any of her triumphs against him.

'What's the problem Granger, if you want to leave, just leave!'

'You tell me, Malfoy. You never mentioned Disapparating an option when you were telling me your sick plan to get me to beg for help. You must've known that it's impossible to do so and I would be stuck in this island when night falls and it would be cold and I have no choice but to reside in the only shelter on this godforsaken island, which is your damned chalet.'

'Brilliant as always aren't you, Granger? Well let me tell you why you can't Disapparate out of here, being the kind and merciful person I am.' Hermione coughed out in disagreement, but Draco was too absorbed in himself to stop to acknowledge it.

'This island is mine, well, my family's at least. It's a Malfoy family heirloom. Its charmed with some ancient magic to only allow Malfoys to apparate and Disapparate from this island. Us and whatever we're holding on to at the moment of course. It prevents unwanted people to come here and thrash the place. It's our holiday home, and also my personal thinking space.'

'I didn't know that you were one for deep thought.'

'Oh shut it Granger.' Draco rolled his eyes. Hermione Granger was as infuriating now as she was in Hogwarts. Even the fact that he saved her life did not change her decision to treat him the same. He sighed. It was always going to be like this between them. He had to admit, it was very tiring. It was rather amusing to constantly insult someone who was obviously annoyed by it, but on the other hand it was tiring to have to think of new ways to annoy her, and then accept comebacks from her, and then repeat the whole process again the next day. Draco had finally grown out of it, and hopefully Hermione would grow out of it too.

After a long pause of awkward silence between them, Draco decided to go to the chalet since that he was no longer needed by Hermione. He knew that she would need him to get through the night, but she was being ridiculously stubborn and refused any help from him.

'Draco?' Hermione finally blurted out, and Draco stopped in his tracks and smirked. She gave up after all.

'Why did you save me?' The question hit him. He had not thought about why he decided to save Hermione in the first place. He saw her running with fear written all over her face. He thought that it was the right thing to do. It was the least he could do, after allowing her to be tortured by his aunt back at his own home. He always wanted to just verbally destroy her, and not cause any physical pain to her. It was not very gentlemanly, he would say, and Granger was a girl after all. But he was not going to crack in front of her, he was not going to reveal his true motive. After all, what would she think if he told her that he felt like he owed it to her after he left her to be tortured? He was not going to let Hermione Granger overpower him, out of all the people.

'Because as much as I like it, it's very entertaining to see my aunt in frustration from failing.'

'But what if they find out that you're the one who let me go? Why would you risk your life for that simple thrill? What would your parents think of you? What if-'

'Granger!' Draco cut her off.

'Blimey, do you always have that many questions? You're contradicting the whole point of this place being my thinking area. Your words are cluttering my head and its blocking my own train of thought.'

'Well, it's just that it all doesn't make sense. You just went against your own parents, your family and the Dark Lord himself to save me, of all people. You chose to save the person you spent your whole childhood trying to destroy. All because of the thrill of getting to see your aunt going bonkers? It's a heavy price to pay for something so simple and after all it makes no sense at all unless you're under some spell and this is just a whole plan to-'

Draco grabbed her waist and pressed his lips against hers, in a feisty hot kiss. Hermione was about to push him away but she was so lost in his soft lips gently move against hers. She had never been kissed before that way, so passionate but so fill of hatred. It took her breath away as he moved her hands up and down her back, pulling her closer to him, and all of a sudden he let go of her and moved his head backwards, away from her wanting lips.

'Well, that's one way to shut you up.'

**Hey guys (: leave a comment or review :D And tell me what you think will happen next (;**

**Clue? HANDCUFFS! O: I think I gave away too much already. Till we meet again ! (The day after tomorrow.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**OF HANDCUFFS AND UNDERSTANDING**

The morning sun peeped in through the windows of Draco's room. He had a king sized bed with green velvet sheets, a beautiful chandelier hanged right above the bed, and there was a wooden cupboard opposite the bed to keep clothes. It looked very simple yet had a grand vibe towards it. The window overlooked the ocean and was facing east, allowing Draco to indulge in the view of the setting sun.

Draco opened his eyes slowly, absorbing the peaceful aura around him. No war, no fear, no danger. It was just him in an island far away from all worries. He just wanted to lay there forever. He was in such a comfortable position, and he never wanted things to change.

He let out a contented sigh of relief and tried to sit up, but when he tugged on his left hand he felt a weight attached to it. _What the?_There was a metal ring that was latched onto his wrist, and as he looked further ahead he realised that he was chained to Hermione.

'Merlin, Granger! What in the world?' He tugged and tugged on his hand but Hermione did not stir. He tried to squeeze his hand trough the ring to release himself of its' death grip but it was all done in vein.

'Alohomora' he whispered. But the spell bounced off the metal and subsided.

'Hermione Granger!' he said softly in her ear. He was not about to risk her waking up in a shock to hex him. Hermione exhaled deeply and her eyes fluttered open. _Merlin, shes.. Shes beautiful! _Draco thought, his silvery-grey eyes still glaring at her.

'Well good morning to you too, Malfoy' she slipped out a slight smile, a heart-warming one. Hermione had always been a morning person, the feeling of waking up alive and comfortable never failed to make her smile, brightening up her day and also her mood. Since Draco was young he had never experienced kindness, not even from his own mother for she was living in too much fear to be able to convey happiness to her only son. Draco's heart skipped a beat upon Hermione's smile, it was something he never felt before.

'Uhm, right, er, care to explain this? He lifted his left hand, which was now pink from all the tugging.

'They're called _handcuffs _Malfoy, or in the wizarding world you call it shackles but it's pretty much the same thing.'

'I damned well know what it is, I need to know why in Merlins name is it connecting me to you, and why can't I take it off? Have you charmed it Granger, you must be out of your bloody mind if you actually did. You got the hots for Draco Malfoy now? Is this what it's all about? Can't get enough of me, can you? You could have just asked you know? Never thought of that from your bri-' Hermione yawned, interrupting Draco's speech.

'Now look who's talking too much and asking all the ruddy questions! It's early in the morning Malfoy, don't need to rush. First of all yes, i did charm it, but for only the right reasons.' Draco cheekily raised his wiggled his eyesbrows at her.

'Don't look at me that way Malfoy, the right reasons being my ticket out of this island. You said that only Malfoy's can apparate and Disapparate from here, and I am not planning to stay here if you decide to leave and never return, therefore you are taking me out of here with you whether you like it or not!' Hermione said commandingly.

'Bloody hell, Granger, like I said, you could've just asked'

'You could've just disappeared. In the middle of the night, and I would be stranded on this island.'

'Brilliant as you are Granger, your survival skills are close to nothing. If you are that desperate you could just build your own bloody boat and _sail _out of here.' Draco stretched his arms, causing Hermione's arm to follow as he did so.

'Do _not_, judge my survival skills, Malfoy. Thanks to you and your whole ruddy family, me and Harry have been surviving out in the woods for months, in fear of bloody snatchers or even worse Death Eaters! What's the worst you've been through huh? Surviving a day without gel in your hair? And I did consider building my own boat, but where will I sail to if I don't even know where I am now? You worthless git!' Hermione was absolutely outraged. After all she had been through with Harry in the woods. Sleepless nights in watching over the tent, carrying the Horcrux, living in fear of someone breaking down their defence barriers, the less than appetizing food she had to eat every day and the pain of losing Ron had driven Hermione to the brink, and there was Malfoy so simply insulting her.

'Now it's _my_ fault? I'm the cause of your suffering? Don't you think I'm suffering too? You think I like being pushed into doing the Dark Lord's deeds? You think it's so easy to sit in the same room as him with the overwhelming fear of being hexed or cursed? You think I _chose _this bloody fate?' Draco pulled up his sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark.

'Shove off Granger; you don't know anything about my situation! Unlike you, I don't have a choice!' and Draco was right. He had damned the day when he was forced to get the Dark Mark, that eternal tattoo branding him into evil, into darkness. He cursed his father for being such a coward. He cursed his aunt for being such a loyal Death Eater. Many days have been spent throwing up over the fact that he was now a Death Eater, and he was dead afraid of all that he was going to be put in. Other days he spent on this very island, pondering on the matter on whether he should just accept his fate or end his life to get it over with. What haunted Draco was that this was irreversible. It was a lifelong decision, a path which was set already for him to go down. It was not like an exam where if he failed he could have another go the next time. He was doomed, for the rest of his life, and to think his life was only beginning.

Draco's face changed instantly, from the charming yet arrogant demeanour to a worried, scared one. He slouched as he put his face into his hands, letting out a loud painful sigh. Hermione knew exactly how he felt. The only difference was that she had chosen to make the decision whilst Draco was forced into it. Days before Hermione left her home forever, she was reluctant to Obliviate her parents into thinking that they were Wendell and Monica Willkins. It was painful for her to take herself out of the picture for the sake of their well-being, but she felt like she had no choice but to make that decision. There was a terrible ache in her heart every time she thought about her memories with her parents, and how she would be the only one to remember them. She was ever so scared of letting go of the memories because she was the only proof that it actually happened but then again thinking back about her past just ripped her into pieces the more she thought about it.

Hermione stretched out her right arm towards Draco, which was connected to the handcuff, and placed it on his lap. Draco, whose face was still in his hands, peeked from between his fingers and saw the word 'Mudblood' which was carved into Hermione's arm, the wound still fresh red from the recent clotting of blood.

'I don't have a choice either, Malfoy, I can't change my blood. However much I hate it, I still won't be able to be accepted by people like yourself, purebloods. I have already been discriminated since I entered the wizarding world, and I have done nothing to deserve such terrible treatment. If you were to compare me to you, you would just be evil, but I will be dirt. So don't think you don't have a choice, there is always an option.' A tear streamed down Hermione's face. She was thinking about her parents again and how excited they were when Hermione received her letter.

Draco didn't stir from his position. The pair sat next to each other on the bed, reminiscing their own pasts and decisions they had made in their lives. It was so strange yet so perfect how these two people, sworn enemies since childhood, could sit next to each other, so broken yet fitted together properly, finding similarities in each other. They were direct opposites, but they both had irreversible problems which were now taking lead in their lives. One fought for the good side, and one was forced into the evil side. Both would never have guessed that one other's life could be as messed up as they was. Both thought that they were alone in this realm of suffering, only to realise that there was another person who felt the same.

'Come on Granger, let's get washed up, I'm hungry.' Draco finally broke the silence, tugging at the handcuff and urging Hermione to follow him.

'I showered this morning before I cuffed myself to you, so you can just hit the shower. You have the freedom of your right hand, so hopefully you can shower properly.' Hermione mumbled. Draco had not seen Hermione in such a vulnerable state before. She had always been the feisty one whose guard is always up around him, but now it's as if she didn't care about who Draco was anymore and was being the regular, nice Hermione that she was to everyone else. Draco admitted that it was very sweet, but he was surprised to see her act that way towards him. Hermione was sitting cross-legged with her head down, her elbows on her lap as she slouched. She did not want anyone to see her like this. Draco lifted her chin with his right hand and stared deep into her eyes sincerely, his face inches away from hers.

'I promise I won't leave without you, please, take it off.' He did not suppress his vulnerability from her either, for she was in an even worse emotional state than he was.

Hermione turned away from him, staring out the window now at the sea. She sighed.

'Malfoy, I'm sorry. It's charmed to only be removed after we leave to safe ground. If it's hurting you I have a wrist-guard that you can wear' Draco was stunned. _Granger is… Caring for me? _He thought.

'_Hermione_, if we're going to be stuck together, we should stop being so tiresomely formal, and what's this wrist-guard thing?'

'Well, Draco, this is a wrist-guard' she pulled out a tube-shaped band which was made out of wool from her pocket, and handed it to Draco.

'Usually it's to prevent your wrist muscle from getting hurt but in this case it can protect your skin from bruising.'

'Don't you need to use it?' he toyed with the elastic band, stretching it and letting it go back into its original shape.

'Just take it, it's my doing anyway, no need to burden you further,' she explained, her face brightening up again. It was the perfect chance for Draco to shoot Hermione down with an insult which had no comeback, but Draco didn't want to destroy the Hermione which was not mean to him. Somehow it was heart warming to experience kindness first hand from someone.

Draco took his shower, although it was hard for his hand to wash himself, because of his new restraint. Draco didn't tug hard on his left hand although he could pull it further, mainly because he didn't want Hermione to strain herself. He felt a sudden change of emotion towards her, and it was a strange one of that. She made him felt the way no one has ever made him felt before, and it's not like she was doing it on purpose. He knew what it felt like to be chased by his many admirers, all of them flaunting their assets and flirting continuously with him. It felt good to be wanted, but this feeling was not the same.

Draco felt as if he needed to care for Hermione, as if he would break if she broke. Was it love? Draco shot down that idea as soon as it entered his mind. _It couldn't be. _He thought. Just hours ago they were quarrelling over how she wanted a way out and he was so self-absorbed in himself. Then again, moments later they were engaged in a hot kiss.

'Draco, are you still alive in there? Well I mean… Of course you're still alive, but, er… Please respond…' Hermione said from the other side of the shower. She was trying to conceal her worry but it was failing miserably. Draco had spent a bit too much time in the shower, thinking.

'Yeah, I'll be out in a bit.' Draco turned off the water and grabbed the towel, wrapping himself properly before stepping out of the shower.

'Well, it took you long enough; I thought I was going to die with all the accumulation of heat and steam out here.'

'I always thought that a person was genetically incapable of being too hot, but I guess I'm and exception' he smirked.

Hermione rolled his eyes at him but could not help to stare at his perfectly toned body, with refined washboard abs. It was no wonder Draco's ego was so huge. He had all he needed to boast about. Hermione blushed a little as she looked away and attempted to walk out the bathroom, forgetting the fact that she was still handcuffed to Draco. She was jerked back a bit when she reached her limit.

'What's the rush, Hermione?'

'Nothing… We should probably just get out of here after breakfast, if there is any food here at all.'

'Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble Granger, but I honestly don't intend to leave this place any time soon.'

Hermione sighed in dismay, but quickly covered up her grief.

'Is it because you just _love_ to be stuck to me?' she said playfully, lifting up her right arm to shake the handcuff.

'You seem to like that. So you really don't want to stay away from me, now don't you?'

'No, I believe it's the other way around. After all, _you_ were the one that kissed me.' Draco's eyes widened, he never thought they would be discussing their little encounter yesterday.

'Well you kissed me back!' he said defensively, eagerly trying to hide the fact that he was blushing.

'The point is that you were the one who started it!' she inched closer to his face, not willing to give in and admit that responded to Draco's kiss, pushing the fault onto his shoulders.

At this point, neither of them was going to give in. They stared deep into each other's eyes, with frustration and pride, and refused to let themselves be in fault from the kiss. But it wasn't really a fault now was it? The both of them just thought it was; and as his cold silvery-grey eyes met her big brown ones, they found absolute comfort in each other.

**(: I'm sorry this chapter is a bit longer than usual, but I just couldn't stop writing ! Review , comment, predict (:**


	4. Chapter 4

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**RON IN WORRY**

'_Hermione! Hermione! Where are you!'_

'_Ron! Ron! I'm here!'_

_I was so happy to hear her voice. It was the most melodious thing I ever heard, calling my name even! My heart raced almost as fast as I did as I ran in the direction of where the sound came from. A wide smile appeared on my face in an instant. It was her voice! Her voice! To think in just a while I am going to see her again, her beautiful brown eyes, and not to forget her crazy curly hair, which matched her eyes. I always thought of that but never found the right time to compliment her. Right, this time I will, this time when I see her I will compliment her, and every day after that I'll tell her that she's the most beautiful person in the world. _

_I'm so close. So close to her, and when I do get to her I'll wrap my arms around her and never let her go, never again. Screw it if we lose the war, I'll just take her and we can disappear forever, maybe move to a small island or something. I don't really care now. I'll tell her exactly how I feel about her. Well it's been some time but, better late than never right?_

'_Avada Kadavra!' and I'm blinded by green light. Hell, no. No no no no no. My heart stopped for a moment. It can't be. No. My legs would not stop and when I reached her, I trembled to the ground._

_It can't be. No. No. NO!_

'Ron. Ron. Wake up Ron,' Harry's voice rang in Ron's head. Ron's eyes fluttered open, and he squinted as soon as Harry's wand being placed very closely to his face. He was panting and realised that he had been sweating very badly.

'Have you found her? Has she come back? Harry?' Ron asked anxiously. Harry simply sighed and turned away.

'No Ron, you were having another nightmare. Your screaming woke almost everyone up, are you alright?' Ron frowned. Of course he wasn't alright. How could he be? Knowing for a fact that Hermione was in some unknown place, without them to protect her, with Death Eater's looking for her, with nowhere to go. It was an awful lot to think of but Ron could not get his mind off of it. It was on the brink of giving him a bad headache, but he couldn't care less. He stood up and stretched.

'Ron, where'r you going at this time of night?'

'I don't know Harry, maybe out for a walk. I need to clear my head a li'l'

Harry nodded. He understood Ron very well. Had it been Ginny who was missing, Harry would be searching for her high and low and not stopping until he laid eyes on her one more time. But he couldn't possibly feel what Ron was feeling now. The worst part was that he blamed himself for Hermione's disappearance. Harry decided to go back to sleep, and handling Ron the next day.

..

Ron paced around the living room of Shell Cottage anxiously, his face full of agitation.

'Ron, maybe you should just calm down for a while,' said Harry suggestively, placing his hand on his best friend's shoulder.

'Calm down? Calm? Blimey Harry, you know that I can't ruddy calm down! Hermione isn't here if you haven't noticed! What the hell happened? I thought we got her when we Disapparated from Malfoy Manor! It's been days since we last heard from her. She's the brilliant one! She would have tracked us down by now if she were perfectly fine.'

Harry sighed. However much he didn't want to make this a bigger issue than it already was, he missed Hermione too. He would've never forgiven himself if something happened to Hermione, and where would they all be without her. She was the one who was always getting them out of trouble. It had been exactly five days since they left Malfoy Manor, and for four days Ron had completely isolated himself from the lot, locked himself in the guest room and refused to eat or sleep. He believed that it was his fault that Hermione was left out, after all he was the one that suggested they go to Shell Cottage. In his head he constantly thought back to the precise moment where he grabbed hold of everyone to Disapparate. He knew for sure that he had held on to Hermione.

After four consecutive days of beating himself up emotionally and mentally, he was exhausted and came out of his room, eager for food. He was not his usual self though. Normally Ron would just grab and gobble at all the food in front of him regardless of his manners, but that night he sat in silence with his head down, gently shovelling food into his mouth. Hermione had always commented on his terrible eating manners, and now everything he did he was reminded of Hermione. He never knew how much he could miss her, well until the day he vanished from their camp during the Horcrux hunt. But this time it was different, this time he felt lonesome without her presence, because she did not choose to go, she just got lost. Lost. Ron hoped so badly that she was just lost. Rather lost than caught, rather alone than hurt, rather alive than dead.

Ever since his recent breakthrough from his silence, Ron spent most of his day walking around, as if he had been waiting and waiting for something to happen. But it was a mental war in Ron's own head. His gut telling him to go out and search everywhere for Hermione; reality telling him that it was almost impossible to cover it all. His mind trying to convince him that it would be alright, and that Hermione would return; daily evidence proving to him that it's not and it wasn't likely for Hermione to return. His heart aching and comforting himself to trust Hermione and assume that she was alright; her absence contradicting him completely. It was exhausting, but what else could one Ron Weasley do.

'Harry,' he mumbled, suddenly stopping to sit on a couch. He tried to relax himself but he was so tensed for the pass four days it seemed new to him. Harry who had his face buried in his hands sitting on the chair opposite Ron lifted his head up.

'Did she, worry about me when I was gone?' the words that left his mouth sounded uncertain but curious.

'Well yeah, she did. After a while I thought she was okay about it, but then I heard her crying in her sleep. It was painful for her Ron.'

Ron sighed. He felt so helpless. He felt like he just let go of the only thing that mattered to him in the past few months. He would have traded anything just to know that she was alive and fine. He would have done anything to see her one last time. He would have died to be able to talk to her once more. All this despair and agony slowly built into agitation and frustration. He kicked the table from where he was sitting and Harry jerked, shocked from the sudden loud noise. Ron jumped to his feet, full of bravado.

'Harry, I'm gonna go back.' He announced, his blue eyes gleaming in determination.

'Go back where, Ron?' Harry asked. A strange feeling in his gut told him that Ron was about to go and do something stupid and reckless. He wasn't wrong.

'Malfoy Manor.'

**(: Hope you like it! Sorry there's no Dramione in this chapter**

**PS: I'm really sick and tired of people depicting Ron as arrogant and hot-headed and out to destroy Draco and Hermione's relationship for his own selfish reasons. It's like they're making it very Twilight-like by forcing them to fight over Hermione. I know that would be really hot but I want to bring out the best of Ron here and hope you guys enjoy it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**BLOODY BLUDGER**

'Clang!' followed by the sound of shattering glass. Both Draco and Hermione were shocked and turned to look towards the direction of the sound.

'Malfoy what do you think that was?'

'Well obviously I know because I wasn't right here next to you the whole time, _Hermione_,' he replied, emphasizing on her name.

'You're absolutely insufferable, come on. We should probably check it out.' Draco used a spell to dry himself and get some clothes on before they proceeded out of the bathroom and followed Hermione, who led them to the kitchen.

'Oh shit no!' Draco grabbed Hermione and covered her eyes with his hand before she could see anything, his other arm grabbed around her waist. He held on to her from the back and pulled her towards the living room.

'Draco, Draco let go of me.' But Draco didn't budge. He held on to Hermione and casted a Fixing Charm upon the window.

'Malfoy, you're killing me here,' but in a split-second Draco Apparated to the beachside.

'Draco Lucius Malfoy you tell me what's goin-'

'DAMNIT! Granger! Shut the hell up,' he sighed and forcefully let go of her. He ran his right hand through his hair.

'I-I'm sorry, sorry Draco. I didn't mean to. I just-' Hermione sounded hurt. She didn't mean to infuriate Draco; she was just scared and confused at the same time. He sighed. He was felt sorry for snapping at Hermione. But no, he couldn't apologize to her. It wasn't in him to apologize to anyone.

'Save it, Granger. I should probably explain though,' Hermione nodded at him.

'You see the moment I learnt how to Apparate, I would always come here to skip class and just mess around. Sometimes my parents would come here to find me, sometimes they would send _that_.'

'I'm sorry, but, what is, that?'

'It's a charmed bludger. It's rigged with Homenum Revelio. I believe you know what that is don't you, Granger?'

'The charm which reveals human presences in the surrounding environment. Yes I believe I heard of it before.'

'Yeah, that. My father would send that bloody bludger out to find me. It would first go around the island, and then come in the house. There's usually an open window for it to open but I chose to close up any opening in the chalet. It serves as a pretty good warning when that ruddy thing comes for me.'

'So what happens if it does find you?'

'Now here's a riddle for you Miss Granger. What is the sole purpose of a bludger in the game of Quidditch?' Hermione thought about it for a while before she gasped in horror.

'That's absolutely barbaric!' Draco nodded.

'It serves as punishment. The first time it got me, I couldn't walk for days, even after I took Skele-Gro.'

'But why did you have to close my eyes before we Disapparated?'

'For your own safety. The bludger detects it's victim by eye contact, and hits the victim square in the eyes first.' Hermione hissed in the thought of pain.

'Since you are no Malfoy, it would immediately report to my parents that I am having a guest over here, and they would not rest till your memory of the island is Obliviated. Only Malfoy's have stepped foot on these sands you see, they believe that any other person would "pollute the sanctity of this land" or so my Grandfather once said' Draco said mockingly, completely disapproving of his ancestor's thinking.

'Your father would literally kill you if he finds out that you brought, someone like me here,' Hermione said shyly.

'Well now that's not really a problem. The problem is that they're looking for me now, damnit. Anyway if he knew half the things I ever done in my life, I would have died a thousand times already,' Draco smiled at her reassuringly.

Draco Disapparated them back to the chalet. Luckily, the charmed bludger was nowhere to be seen, but there was another broken window, marking that the bludger has left.

'Why are you so worried that they're looking for you? You should feel glad that your family cares for you. But why didn't Lucius come here to look for you himself?'

'Father would probably want to know if I'm dead or not, because the Dark Lord wants to know, not because he actually _cares_. He's not here because he's probably under heavy watch of other Death Eaters, namely Aunt Bella. Voldemort doesn't know about this place, you see. It's the only place he can't touch. If he ever finds out about this island, he'll use it for his own personal reasons, like hiding a bloody Horcrux. As for mother, she never wanted this life for me. The further away I am from them, the better. I don't want the Dark Lord looking for me to carry out some bloody task, I rather be on this island, or dead.'

Hermione sighed. It was going to be a long time before they would leave the island due to Draco's current state, but who was she to complain. She would be dead if it weren't for Draco, but it didn't mean that she wasn't going to try to convince him to get off this island. She came to a realisation that whatever that was out there waiting for Draco was far worse than being handcuffed to his childhood enemy.

The rumours of how Voldemort treats his Death Eaters were probably true. They all lived in fear of being suddenly killed by the Dark Lord himself. There was no Death Eater who enjoyed being one, except maybe Bellatrix Lestrange who seemed to have a strange infatuation with You Know Who. Hermione bit her lip and thought of how unlucky Draco was. He didn't choose his fate but he was stuck with it; she wanted to help but she just didn't know how. She wasn't going to give up on having them leave this place as soon as possible though.

'Come on, I'll cook you some breakfast._' And maybe then you would leave this place, _she thought.

'What makes you think that I'm incapable of cooking my own breakfast?' he replied arrogantly. Hermione sighed.

'Draco. Can we just stop trying to argue over everything for once? We might end up in an uncomfortable position and I really don't like to go there.'

'I'm fairly insulted, Granger. You're speaking as if I'm a goblin and a terrible kisser, which we both know that statement is absolutely false.' Draco smirked at her.

'Well, I guess your kissing, is okay, maybe a 5/10.' Hermione said playfully while cracking some eggs which she found in the cupboard into a pan.

'Five? FIVE out of bloody ten. You must be joking!' Draco let out a fake laugh.

'I think I at least deserve a nine if you don't want to give me a perfect ten.' He smirked. He truly was charming. Hermione wanted to deny it but she just couldn't. It was hard to lie about something which was right in front of her eyes.

'Fine Malfoy, Maybe a six.'

'Ten'

'Seven'

'Nine'

'Seven and a half'

'Ten'

'What Malfoy, seriously? You still think you're a perfect kisser?'

'Yes, Hermione. However high your expectations are, I might be the best you ever had.'

'Might? Well I'm pretty sure there is someone better.'

'You see. We can't have a conversation without eventually wanting to tear each other's heads off.'

'Okay, then I, Hermione Granger, apologize to one Draco Malfoy and will let him maintain his pride of thinking he's the best kisser…'

'Why thank you,' Draco smirked.

'… On this island.' Hermione chuckled and continued cooking.

Draco rolled his eyes. Neither of them was ever going to give in to anything. Draco found that rather intriguing. He had never met a girl who was so persistent in making sure his ego bubble didn't expand and suffocate her. She was out to keep his head out of the clouds, and she knew how to do it in the wittiest way possible.

'How about we settle this once and for all.' He was not going to give up until she admitted he was the best. After all, he was convinced that Hermione was just refusing to admit it, because his kissing was perfect. Or was it just another excuse to kiss her again?

'Draco your arm,' she grabbed his left arm and pulled it closer to her.

'Don't try to change the subject, Granger!'

'No Draco, look. The Dark Mark. It's moving.'


	6. Chapter 6

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**MALFOY MANOR**

'Cissa, any news of Draco yet?' Lucius Malfoy asked, while cutting the steak which was on his plate. The two Malfoys were sitting at their long rectangular dining table, directly opposite of each other but miles apart, with a banquet of food in front of them. They were sitting in complete silence before that, the only sounds made were the clanking of the cutleries against the plate, with Bellatrix Lestrange occasionally producing weird noises. Somehow the pair found the room quite empty without Draco sitting in between them, although if he was there he would be completely silent too unless spoken to.

'Unfortunately not. It's starting to worry me that he isn't back yet. I even asked his friend Mr. Zabini, and he has not been in contact with Draco either,' Narcissa replied, her eyes not leaving her food either, although there was a hint of worry in her voice, the usual one from a mother who cared dearly about her son. Being his mother, Narcissa had every right to decide which path their child should choose, and she did not want this for him, either. She remembered the day that Draco received his Dark Mark like it was just yesterday, and from that day onwards Narcissa Malfoy felt as though her child has been taken away from her, injected with fear and evil then thrown back to her to care for. Draco's stormy grey eyes were watery that day, which he quickly blinked it away with his to conceal his discontent, but a mother sees all. She could see her son change right before her eyes, and every last bit of her blamed herself for his fate. The only perfection which she had managed to bring in to this world, had been destroyed altogether. The love which Narcissa Malfoy felt for Draco would regrettably never be indulged by Draco himself, but the love was there.

'Well I sent the bludger to look for him, he isn't, _there_.' Narcissa dropped her cutleries on her plate, eyes widening as she looked up to her husband, whose face did not twitch one bit as he finished the sentence.

'How could you? You've seen the damage that monstrous thing does! It's terrible!' she exclaimed in worry, raising her voice a tad too high for Lucius's liking.

'If he were to just sneak off then he bloody well deserves the bludger!' he slammed a fork on the table, releasing part of his suppressed stress into it. The idea of his son gallivanting around with no intention of coming back to fulfil his duties to the Dark Lord simply sickened Lucius to the core and infuriated him. Voldemort would have him and his wife's head if they failed him just one more time, since the incident at the Astronomy Tower. Blood rushed to Lucius's head and he felt a headache forming at the back of his skull, and he tightened his grip on the fork and exhaled sharply. All he wanted was just to find a loophole out of his current pit of hell, but as he searched for one, he could not find it. The walls were closing upon him and the darkness that shrouded all around him was suffocating his thinking.

'You better find him soon, the Dark Lord doesn't like to be kept… Waiting.' Bellatrix voiced out in a sing-song tone of voice, only making the situation worse. Lucius gritted his teeth, on the brink of hexing the eccentric witch for the sake of releasing anger, but then he would have to answer to Voldemort himself, and that would be the last thing that he wanted to do. Bellatrix on the other hand was one of the most peculiar Death Eaters there were. She has a certain obsession with the Dark Lord, and he intrigued her more that he did to other people. She wasn't scared of the things he could do, and admired him like a schoolgirl when it came to carrying out tasks for him.

Lucius sighed. 'When was the last time you saw him, Bellatrix?'

'Oh I'm not quite sure, maybe a few days ago perhaps. After all I was hunting down that Mudblood.' Bellatrix cackled in her sick, evil laughter. She was cold inside out, with no glint of human nature inside her, almost like her master himself. But she was far complicated, with sudden bursts of random emotion that intimidated the ones around her. Those who knew her swore that she had spent too much time behind the bars of Azkaban prison, and all her sanity had been absorbed away slowly by the cold concrete walls which were around her. Bellatrix found joy in the suffering of others, and realised that she felt even more thrilled when she was the one causing such suffering to her victims.

There was a ring at the doorbell and their house elf Kirrup hurried from the kitchen to open the door.

'Kirrup who is it?' Lucius shouted over to the elf. The poor house elf was puzzled when he opened the door to see no one at the door frame, and all he could see was the long empty walkway with the trees neatly arranged on both sides. It was dark and the house elf had to squint but he clearly saw no one outside.

'No one, Master Lucius,' the elf replied timidly as he turned to close the door. Just as the door was about to click shut, the door flinged opened again, sending the house elf hurling into the air before a spell was casted to set him down gently on the ground.

'Experlliarmus!' two voices suddenly shouted. Bellatrix and Lucius were disarmed immediately. The three adults were shocked, and stood up to look at the vast empty space in front of them. Their eyes widened and tried to search for their visitor. Narcissa took out her wand and pointed it at the direction where the sound came from.

'Homenum Revelio' she whispered. The invisibility cloak was lifted, revealing Harry and Ron who was standing about

'Ah, hello Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. Didn't your parents tell you that it's rude to barge in to someone else's house and Disarm them first-hand?' Well I guess I can excuse you, Mr. Potter, for you have no parents. But I doubt you'd be any better if you did.' Lucius spat, collecting back some courage when he saw that it was merely two boys which stood before him, threatening him in his own home. Insolent little brats who think they're so good.

'Don't say a word against my parents, Malfoy.' He pointed his wand directly at Lucius.

'And Ma'am, it wouldn't be wise to use any spells if I were you,' Ron pointed his wand back at Narcissa. Bellatrix let out a laugh.

'Immobulus!' Ron shouted, causing Bellatrix to freeze in her tracks, her amused face and widened eyes stuck into place.

'I always wanted to do that to her,' Ron let out a slight chuckle. Narcissa held her wand out, and placed it on the floor.

'Mr. Potter, would you like to tell us why you're here?' Narcissa asked calmly. She always had a maternal instinct, and could sense that the duo meant them no harm. She lifted her hands up to show that she was no threat towards them, as Harry's hand followed her every rude.

'Would you be too kind to inform us where our friend Hermione might be?' Harry asked politely. He had no intention of hurting any of them, besides Bellatrix for killing his godfather, but his hatred for her subsided some time ago. He spoke with all the Gryffindor courage he had in him, not letting out a sign that he was quite nervous about the encounter. Walking into the enemy's lair was not for the faint-hearted, especially when they have a direct hotline to the big boss himself.

'I am sorry to inform you that however simple it might be to find Miss Granger her and save her, she is not here. In fact Madam Lestrange had lost her while she was hunting her a few days back.'

'You! Don't even think of moving an inch!' Ron barked at Lucius, who was slowly retreating from the dinner table to lean against the wall, hoping that they would not be looking at him being too preoccupied with his diplomatic wife.

'How am I sure that you aren't lying to me?' Harry asked.

'Fell free to check the Manor, but I will assure you, you will find nothing. Besides, it has been a few days since we have seen our own son, too.'

'Malfoy's gone too?' Ron thought out loud, finding it hard to relate his disappearance with Hermione's.

'Are you saying that your son's disappearance might be related to Hermione's?' Harry asked, his piercing green eyes curiously eyed Narcissa, curious on why she would think that this two incidents might relate.

'That's exactly what I'm saying. It could not be pure coincidence that they disappeared at the exact same day.'

'Well if 'Mione was to fight Malfoy she would win but she'd probably be splinched and brought to You-Know-Who. So are you sure that she isn't kept captive somewhere this very instant?' Ron asked aggressively, his voice full of suspicion. He would never forgive them after what they did to Hermione, and it took every nerve in his body to resist the urge of cursing the frizzy haired freak who tortured Hermione.

'Try me.' Nacissa said calmly. Harry pointed his wand at her and muttered the Legilimency Spell. Narcissa made no attempt to create barriers around her mind and Harry could see clearly everything that happened since the day they left the Manor. She wasn't lying. If she was Harry could tell because he was getting better at it without even knowing. Narcissa let in some happy memories of her with Draco, trying to make Harry understand that she was truly worried about her son.

At that moment Lucius made a dive for Narcissa's wand.

'Stupefy!' Ron shouted, but he missed. The Death Eater became a cloud of black smoke and shot curses at Ron.

'Protego!' Harry drew a barrier between them and Lucius. At that very moment Bellatrix broke free of the freezing charm, and touched her Dark Mark. She laughed her evil laugh which shocked the whole room.

'He's coming!' and Bellatrix bust out in laughter again. Lucius took advantage of this situation and stunned both Harry and Ron. Bellatrix retrieved her wand from Ron and spat at him, sending a torturous curse that hit him square in the chest. The pair lay down on the marble floor of Malfoy Manor, defenceless and weak, awaiting their terrible fate. Suddenly there was a pop sound and someone apparated into the room.

_Everything became blur, and then, darkness._

**(: hope you guys like it ! x loves.**


	7. Chapter 7

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**FRIENDS**

'He's calling you, isn't he?' Hermione dropped Draco's hand, but Draco held it up again for himself to observe.

'He's never called me before. This isn't good Hermione.'

'What are we going to do? Will he find you here?' Hermione exhaled sharply, worried. She had never been close to being in the same room as Voldemort before, and didn't intend to unless it was over his dead body.

'Well, we can stay here until the world ends, we won't be affected. That would be nice, wouldn't it? It would have been the best plan ever, until you so brilliantly decided to cuff us together.' Draco shaked his left hand, causing the handcuffs to knock together, creating a clanking sound of metal hitting each other. Hermione turned away, unable to face Draco's judging eyes.

'I'm sorry Malfoy, I didn't know that I could trust you back then. How about you just Disapparate me out of here, and then you can come back to paradise. Simple.' Hermione raised her eyebrows. She didn't understand why Draco was so reluctant to just take her out and come back in again.

'You see Granger, I brought you here for a reason,' Draco started explaining, eyeing the food which she was cooking in the pan. Hermione had found a pan in the cupboard below the table, a few eggs and some cheese. She lay out the ingredients before grabbing a spatula to start cooking. She set a fire and cracked two eggs into the frying pan and started cooking. Draco just watched her from aside as she fumbled, not used to cooking with her left hand. Draco would've offered her the use her right hand but she looked like she could manage.

'I was thinking that if we both disappeared, they would just think we eventually killed each other or something, but if I just disappear, they would think that I ran away, and would not rest till they find me. Sooner or later news of you being missing will travel to the Dark Lord and since he has no way of tracking me, he would come to a conclusion that we both are dead, because what are the odds of us running away together. We are known for hating each other.' The words of the last sentence seemed almost transparent as it left his lips. It was not true anymore. He realised that he hated Granger a whole lot less than he had in the past six years of school with the frizzy haired Muggle born. He tried to go back and recall what has changed about her in the past few years but he could see no difference. She was still the same person, the Know-It-All girl with a mouth that won't close and hair that won't settle. She was pretty, beautiful actually since she outgrown her buck teeth and had slender long legs. Draco realised that she hasn't changed; it was he that didn't notice her all along. He dreamily gazed upon her hair, which had rather soft curls instead of the frizzy one's that his aunt had. Her eyes still focused on mastering the art of cooking with her left hand, not knowing that Draco was staring at her.

'Dead or abducted by aliens, that would be fun, yay.' Hermione mumbled absent-mindedly in a high-pitched sarcastic voice, as she held up the pan and flipped the egg inside of it.

'Pass me a plate, Draco.' And Draco complied. He reached up to the top cupboard and took out a round porcelain plate covered with a layer of dust, then casted a cleaning spell onto it, revealing its original pearl white surface.

'Aliens? What are aliens?' he asked curiously while passing the plate to Hermione, eyes widening.

'Oh, some Muggles believe that outside this planet, there are other beings in other planets like us, and they call them aliens. They come in big flying saucers and will apparently abduct humans to their planet for some sick experiment' Hermione explained, while tipping the pan over so the omelette would slide onto the plate.

'Muggle's really are weird sometimes, don't you think?' Draco chuckled, grabbing a fork from the cupboard above to start eating. He hissed in pain when his tongue touched the freshly cooked omelette, but he was too hungry to care about his tongue.

'Well, you can say it that way, but on the other hand Muggles find other ways to compensate for not being able to do magic. They create devices to do things for them. Electronics, that's our magic.' Hermione said, starting on another omelette for herself.

'Really? Is it as good as real magic?' Draco mumbled out, his mouth stuffed with food. He was slightly curious that Muggles even had the common sense to try to create something close to account for their incapability to do magic.

'No, not as good, but it is pretty interesting. I can show you sometime, if we ever get off this island.' Hermione sighed.

Draco sighed and ruffled his hair, placing the half eaten omelette on the counter next to the stove which Hermione had cooked in. There it was again, the dreaded conversation of leaving the perfect place. It was like Draco was an angel wanting to stay in haven but had a human Hermione latched onto him begging him to bring her down. 'Hermione you don't understand, I just, I can't go back.'

Hermione pursed her lips. She couldn't force him without possibly using the Imperius Curse, but then again she didn't want to be the reason if he were to get into trouble with You-Know-Who. She stood there thinking in silence while she cooked her own omelette, and Draco ate his. It was surprising how comfortable they could be, cuffed to each other but still did not feel awkward about the silence. Neither of them seemed to bother starting the conversation again; Draco hoping that she didn't bring it up again, Hermione thinking of a plan to get away. Draco really wanted to stay here until everything ended, _but that would be a long time, and I would have to be cuffed to Granger for an even longer time,_ he thought.

'Draco I got it!' Hermione suddenly shouted out, slightly startling Draco who was still thinking. He exhaled sharply and tried to keep calm.

'What is it Hermione?'

'You can Disapparate us back to your Manor-'

'Back to the Manor? Are you bloody jok-' Draco was overreacting; the last thing he wanted was to go back to his own home. Hermione simply widened her eyes and shot a glare at him. He understood and nodded, allowing her to continue.

'Back to the Manor, as I pretend to be unconscious. You can tell them how you've been hunting me for the past few days and ventured into a strange zone which Appiration couldn't be used, and external magic could not come in nor go out, therefore making us undetected. If they don't believe you tell them it's similar to this island. You can tell them that you brought me back for your Aunt Bella, and just as she's trying to take me to the dungeon or whatever, I spring up and put a wand to your neck. After that we can Disapparate, and you can disappear, and I will be known as the murderer of Draco Lucius Malfoy. We can leave tonight, so that it's harder for them to track us.' Hermione smiled, concluding her plan. Draco was impressed. He would never have thought of a plan like that. He rested his arm against the table and inched himself closer to Hermione's face.

'Why are you doing this, for me?' his silvery-grey eyes met her big brown ones once again, with a certain intensity which demanded absolute sincerity from her. It was as if he could see right through her if she tried to lie.

'If helping you will help me, then of course I'm willing to do so.' Hermione replied, her eyes not leaving Draco's. Draco stared into her eyes for a bit longer, before breaking off and turning away.

'They'll hunt you down, Granger.' He leaned forward against the counter, his movements were restricted by Hermione who was starting to eat her omelette, hovering above the dirty stove.

'As if they're not already, Malfoy.' She replied, and it was a good point. The Death Eaters have been tracking them for months already, it wasn't unusual for her to feel as if someone wants her head. Initially she struggled emotionally and was constantly feeling afraid, but then she realised that it does help to be a bit more intelligent than everyone else. _You're bloody brilliant, 'Mione, _she recalled Ron saying that once to her. She stopped eating and sighed, her stomach cringing causing her to slouch. She missed Ron and Harry so much. Knowing them, they would be searching the ends of the world for her, or rather trying to survive without her constantly providing clothes and charms for them. They needed her, she needed them. She felt a tear forming and she swallowed hard, a part of her wanting to burst out in tears just to release the pain.

'Something bothering you, Hermione?' Draco pulled on their cuffed hands to get her attention. Hermione blinked several times to absorb the tears which were about to stream down her cheeks and nodded. She couldn't let Draco see her this way, and she wasn't intending to do so any time soon.

'I'm fine, it's just that, I miss Harry and Ron.' She replied sadly. Draco could see that she was sad and on the brink of tearing up but he didn't know what to do_. What to do when a girl cries_. Draco never found out the answer. He merely stood next to her, in awkward silence as she put her head down and continued eating.

'Draco?' she finally spoken after finishing her food. She looked up to Draco, her eyes slightly watery.

'Won't you miss your friends when you're supposedly dead? Aren't you afraid of being alone, with no one to talk to?' Draco turned away. He never thought of that. He always thought that once he was away from the Dark Lord, all his problems would go away, but Hermione was right, although he would never admit feeling lonely and missing the presence of other human beings around him, he probably would be lonely.

'I'm sorry, you don't have to answer it if it was too personal.' Hermione dipped her head low again. She couldn't believe what overcame her to ask Draco Malfoy such a question. He was always known for having a heart of stone, but she was just curious and the question slipped out at the moment.

'It's okay, Granger. This is my thinking area and I guess this is another thing that I have to think about. Maybe I can choose not to go back to the island after you help me, but I just want to get away from the Dark Side, I guess.' He lightly lifted Hermione's chin to turn her head to face him.

'I know you think that I'm a bad person, Hermione, but I'm not. I may be mean and arrogant at times, but I never wanted this, I never wanted any of this.' He revealed his Dark Mark again, which was still moving. He let out a sigh of disgust and let go of Hermione's chin.

'If you told me this a few years back when we were back in school, I would've never believed you. But now, I think I understand.' Hermione replied reassuringly.

Now, when she looked at Draco, she didn't see an arrogant boy who wanted to be top in everything, so proud and rude. Instead, she saw a more matured man, one who knows the difference between good and bad, one who broke free of the wicked ways which he was brought up in and wanted to go his own way. In the beginning it looked like rebellion, but now Hermione could see that this was the real Draco Malfoy. The problem was that he's lost, and afraid. He had never known any reliable person who was not on the Dark Side, and somehow figured out that to make it out free was to make it out alone. He has a high suspicion towards everyone, because the people he was raised with were terrible, evil people. He was lost but his pride did not let him admit it; he was lonely but his ego did not allow him to show it; and most importantly he was so afraid, but years of being afraid had taught him to conceal it.

'Oh you think you understand?' he tried to reply arrogantly, but between his words leaked a slight joy of having someone who was probably on the same page as him. After all, she had to give up her parents and had lived a life of being inferior to people like him. She had lead a miserable life so far and now she was on her own, on an island with the person who practically destroyed her childhood. He believed her when she told him that she understood, but then shook the idea away because no one could understand his situation, not even him.

'No, I'm wrong. I don't think I understand, I do understand. After all, I _am _the brightest witch of our age!' Hermione replied mockingly, to ease the tension of the situation. Draco realised what she was doing and decided not to start an argument that would lead to another fight and smirked at her, letting out a fake choke in disagreement of her statement.

Hermione pretended to feel offended by Draco. 'Your underestimation of my brilliance is quite insulting, Malfoy!'

'No, no' he replied in a sarcastic tone. 'I was just, choking on air. Of _course_ you're the brightest.' And then he laughed as if Hermione was joking. Hermione put her left hand over her him and tried to look cross, her lips twitching to form a smile.

'Say, Granger.'

'What?'

'Are you, ticklish?' he wiggled his eyebrows.

'NO, no. Malfoy, stay away from me,' Hermione started to back away from him. Draco lifted his handcuffed arm.

'I believe that's a problem,' and then stretched his arms to poke Hermione's ribcage. She let out a loud shriek, and then started bursting out in laughter, her tiny frame shuddering as she laughed.

'St-stop, Draco. STOP!' But Draco didn't listen, he was rather enjoying himself tickling Hermione to death. He was laughing too but it was because it was amusing to watch a person crumble in laughter.

'What's that? I'm sorry I can't hear you. Maybe you should stop laughing and then I can hear you,' Draco tickled her more.

After a while Hermione was panting, and gasping to catch her breath. Draco decided to stop then, and he sat down next to her as she tried to recover. She leaned her head against Draco's shoulder and sighed in relief. Then he smacked him hard against his arm.

'You're insufferable, you know that?' she said jokingly.

'It was worth it though, the know-it-all does have a weakness,' he replied, smiling at Hermione.

After that they spent the rest of the day talking, laughing and walking around the island. Hermione succeeded to coax him into the idea of building a sand-castle by hand, although he was reluctant to get his pants sandy. They sat on the beach and tried to scoop out sand with utensils that Hermione made, but when Hermione turned her back to look for seashells he muttered a spell and before them stood a magnificent sand-castle.

'Well, have I forgotten to mention that I am a professional sand-castle maker? It's one of the many talents of the Great Draco Malfoy!' he smirked playfully at Hermione, holding back a laugh.

'Draco Malfoy you cheat!' she said, throwing some sand at him.

'Now now, don't be envious of my skills. After all I _am_ the Great Draco Malfoy!' he chuckled, shaking off the sand from his hair. Hermione scooped some sand up with a shovel and hurled it towards Draco's chest,

'Nice Granger, very mature of you,' he playfully gave Hermione a disapproving look, and then stood up to shake the sand off, purposely making it fall towards Hermione's direction. Giving up on the idea of making a sand-castle, Hermione brought Draco to look for seashells, which was also easily done when Draco decided to Accio them. In a blink of an eye every single seashell was within arms reach of them.

'MALFOY! You're such a… ARGH!' she slumped herself on the sandy beach, pulling Draco down to sit next to her.

'You make the beach seem like such a boring place to be by taking short-cuts at every damn activity,' she lay down on her back, looking up to the orange blotched sky as the sun set.

'That, Hermione is how amazing it is to be a wizard. But anyway how is it fun trying to build a sand-castle when you know that most of the time it's going to topple and you'll get all disappointed?'

'That's why when you do succeed, it feels amazing! It's not about getting it right, it's about the effort you put in doing it,' Hermione explained.

'Muggles. Say Granger, can we leave tomorrow? I feel really tired, and I know you do to. Come on, the sun is setting and the scenery is beautiful, and everything is fine now. Don't spoil it.'

'Fine, Malfoy, but just because of the scenery and nothing else.' She turned to her bag and accio-ed a mat for them to lie comfortably on.

'You sure have everything, do you Hermione?' He turned supported his head with his hand as he faced Hermione.

'Everything except freedom of my right hand, but I'm not complaining,' she smiled. They laid down and watched as the sun finally set from the horizon and the stars peeked out of the pitch black sky, like tiny balls of white light from afar, it was truly beautiful. Hermione tried to explain which star was which, and Draco's only response was a yawn but then apologised when Hermione smacked him playfully. After awhile Hermione fell asleep under the stars peacefully, her face leaning towards Draco's shoulder. Draco looked over to Hermione who was sleeping soundly, and pushed away some hair which was on her face.

'Thank you, Hermione.' And he planted a soft kiss on her forehead before Disapparating them back to the chalet. As he laid her down to sleep, he sighed.

**I apologise for this chapter being a bit longer than usual, but I guess it's my favourite chapter, so yeeaaaah (: Enjoy;  
>Loves x <strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**PLAN IN ACTION**

When the time came to put their plan in action, Draco was quite reluctant to take Hermione back to the place which had become her worst nightmare. She gave him a reassuring smile that it'll be all over soon but then it hit him, he didn't want it to be over. He didn't want to be without her. She looked so excited to go back though, going over their plan over and over again to prevent it from failing from the moment they had woken up. They even tried to act it out to be able to keep a straight face during that time. At exactly half past eight at night, Hermione laid down and pretended to be unconscious. Draco simple held on to her collar and Disapparated back to his mansion.

'Draco!' Narcissa called out in joy. She couldn't believe her son was alive and well, but it all had happen so suddenly. Just moments ago they had recently disarmed Potter and his red haired friend and now her son has returned safely. Inside she was jumping in glee but she had not enough time to externally process this emotion. She simply broadened her smile and looked at her son who was holding a girl unconscious by the neck, her hair covering her face.

'Hello mother, father, Aunt Bella, I see we have company,' he said, pointing out to Harry and Ron unconscious on the floor. He tried his best not to look shocked.

'I see you have brought back the Mudblood!' Bellatrix Lestrange exclaimed. She was more than happy to see Hermione back for her to torture.

'Yes, I've been hunting her for a few days now, and now I found her,' Draco explained proudly, as if he were the hunter and Hermione was his prey.

'Now, you're just in time Draco, I called the Dark Lord to claim Potter,' Lestrange laughed. At that moment Hermione's eyes shot open in shock. She could not believe that both Harry and Ron had already been captured by the Malfoy's again. Lucky for her, her bushy hair covered her face and the others could not see her expression as Draco was limply holding her by her shirt.

In a blink she sprung up as planned, shocking everyone in the room.

'Protego!' She shouted, creating a barrier between Harry, Ron, Malfoy and herself from the adults. She then grabbed Draco from the back and pointed her wand into his neck.

'Nobody move or I'll blow his head off!' she said aggressively, trying to be as convincing as possible. She then took Draco's wand out of his pocket so that he was defenceless. Bellatrix was firing curse after curse at the barrier but it didn't seem to shatter, yet. Taking advantage of the time, Hermione grabbed Harry and Ron by the hand, and they Disapparated to Grimmauld's Place in a blink of the eye.

Kreacher was not very happy to find that Hermione had brought Harry and Ron here unconscious, and was almost rude to her because she was a Muggle-born and she was a girl. Draco had that sought after, by forcing the house-elf to obey Hermione's orders. After all, Draco was related to the Black's, through his mother, and Kreacher had no choice but to obey him. Hermione felt quite touched to see Draco stand up for her, and at that moment he had unknowingly gained a big part of trust from Hermione.

..

_Everything happened so fast, first it was all dark and I could just hear murmurs of people talking. Then, I could hear her, her beautiful angelic voice, but what is she doing? She's throwing spells. No. She's in danger. Move, Ron, move. But no, my body won't listen to me. I can't help. HERMIONE! HERMIONE! I don't think she can hear me. What's going on? All of a sudden, there it is again. Darkness. _

'Ron, Ron. Come back Ron, come back.' Hermione's placed her hand on the side of Ron's face, feeling his cold skin.

Ron's eyes opened slightly. His vision was still blurry but he could make out the figure of Hermione's face looking down upon him. Am I in heaven? It's so bright, and Hermione's there. Is Hermione dead? Oh no. His eyes closed again.

'Ron,' Hermione said softly.

'Well he's definitely alive, I feel his pulse coming back,' Harry said, two fingers on Ron's neck. Ron's eyes opened slightly. That's Harry. I must be in heaven. But, what about everyone back home? I hope they're fine.

Ron opened his eyes fully. He could see Hermione's face first, a worried expression plastered on her face. She was absolutely beautiful. But then, who was the person next to her. _Malfoy? Oh no, bloody hell. Come to think of it, we might be there, hell._

'Ron!' Hermione squealed in delight, her eyes watering up as Ron looked at her, his face looked calm and peaceful, like a person who had been in hibernation for a few years. Ron tried to speak but his voice box would not open. He moved his hands to support himself to sit up. He felt like he hasn't moved in ages. His arms were weak and he felt exhausted. How can I have no energy, it's like I've been sleeping forever! He thought.

Hermione and Harry helped Ron sit up and let him lean against the dashboard behind him. He looked around and saw that they were at Grimmauld Place. He was in Regulus's bedroom, and his two friends were sitting beside him. Well, his two friends and another unexpected acquaintance. Ron had so many questions that he wanted to ask but somehow his throat would not allow him to speak. The questions mainly ranged from _What the hell happened?_ to _Why the hell is Malfoy in the same room as us?_ He struggled to utter out words but no sound seem to escape his lips.

'Ron before you freak out and go into shock or something, let me explain,' Hermione rested her left hand on his, looking at him with joy and sincerity. Ron started nodding vigorously at Hermione with the, 'Yeah 'Mione you betta' explain!' look on his face.

'Well it all started when Bellatrix was chasing me in the woods, it went on for some days, and then Draco rescued me. He brought me to his-' Draco cleared his throat, motioning to Hermione not to tell them about his island.

'He brought me to this place where no one could track us and only he could Apparate and Disapparate from it.' Ron's eyes widened and he looked angry and shocked. He absolutely did not know how to feel. He was torn between the joy of seeing Hermione again, with every fibre in his system wanting to reach out and hug her and then now he's finding out that all this time she's been stuck to Malfoy, of all people in the world.

'Don't worry, he didn't do anything to hurt me. But I figured out that if he's my only ticket out of the island, I wasn't going to miss it, so I charmed these handcuffs to only be able to be taken off when I was away from that isl- place. But somehow, the charm didn't work out or something, so now I am handcuffed to him until we find a way to get it off.' Hermione sighed. She could see that Ron would explode at her if he wasn't in a weak state. True enough, Ron tried to get out of bed but his legs gave in and he sank to the ground just as he was trying to stand up.

'No, Ron. You have to stay here for a while more' Harry supported Ron as he got back into the bed. Ron felt so weak and helpless, he wanted to point his wand at the handcuffs and throw every spell he knew in the book, and if that didn't work he'd just have to result in chopping Malfoy's arm off. He was _not_ about to let Hermione suffer with the ferret any longer.

He pushed his head back and leaned it against the wall, letting out a sigh. He was trying to recall what had happened to cause him to be in such a weak position. _Oh yes, Malfoy Senior_. He picked up his head and turned to Harry, who was looking at him with eyes of concern. Ron wanted to know exactly what happened and it was as if Hermione read his mind.

'Yesterday we devised a plan to get me out of that place without Draco getting into trouble. So we decided that he was going to bring me back to the Manor and pretend that he caught me while I pretend to be unconscious, but just as they proceed to take me away I'll spring up and take Draco as hostage, Disapparating after that. Then he'll go back to that place and play dead, and I would've made it out of Malfoy Manor alive. But when we reached there, we saw you two unconscious on the ground, as if you had just been fighting with them. Our plan was going well and then Lucius said something about the Dark Lord coming to claim Harry. I was shocked and panicked. I quickly moved and put a shield charm over myself, before grabbing on to you two and Disapparating here, to Grimmauld's Place. That was when I realised that Draco was still cuffed to me. I tried to take it off but it was useless, no spell worked.' She bit her lip, concluding her explanation.

'You hurt really badly Ron. They took no quarter when it came to you because they wanted me breathing when the Dark Lord came. Bellatrix shot some strange of bone-dissolving curse and if Hermione didn't come on time we would've been dead, the wizarding world would be dead!' Harry tried to emphasize how lucky they were, and Draco cleared his throat again. Harry looked at him and understood him immediately.

'Malfoy's a life-saver, Ron, and he took good care of Hermione.' Harry concluded.

Ron looked over to Draco. Harry was right. If it weren't for him all three of them would be dead. He extended a hand to Draco, as a sign of gratitude for everything he has done for them. Draco shook it firmly and nodded at Ron, silvery-grey eyes met aqua blue ones and they came to a mutual understanding. They weren't children anymore. Slug eating jinxes and the calling of rude names were put to aside and Hermione watched as two men with proper priorities had made peace with each other. A small smile crept upon Hermione and Harry's face. They couldn't afford to lose anymore comrades, and gaining one more was quite a pleasant feeling. Harry still kept an eye on Draco, suspicious of his intentions besides Hermione explaining to him that Draco was completely safe.

Harry couldn't afford to jeopardise his plan by blindly believing a person who had the Dark Mark on him. He might have gained Hermione's full trust but Draco had yet to gain his, although Draco could be a great help since he knows a brief idea of Voldemort's plans.

They had to take turns to watch over Ron, making sure he takes all the Skele-Gro given to him, although it tasted foul. Ron was determined to be strong again, for Hermione. Although he had made amends with Draco it was sickening to see sweet Hermione being latched on to Malfoy. Admittedly, part of him was jealous that they were stuck together, and dreamed of scenarios that Hermione would be cuffed to him. He was recovering at a slow pace, due to the severity of his injuries. He did not complain or show any sign of dissatisfaction when he was forced to stay in bed, and it was a big relief for Harry and Hermione who thought that they had strap him down to the bed for him to recover.

'Draco?' Hermione was lying next to him inside the master bedroom. Harry had asked them to take it, since they could not be separated, they should take the room with the most bed space so that they wouldn't be force to sleep too close together. As expected, Harry took Sirius's room. Somehow, he felt closer to Sirius- although he was already gone- when he was in his room. He remembered the time Sirius had showed him their family tree which was on the wall, and all the memories of Sirius came flooding back to Harry's mind. For once in a long time, he felt relaxed.

'Yeah?' Draco replied simply, his eyes still closed.

'Are you really going back to that island after you're free?'

'I don't know-' Hermione's faced lightened up. 'Maybe I'll find somewhere else to go once you guys leave this house, they might have a way to track me and it would be too dangerous.' Hermione let out a silent sigh. She didn't want Draco to go. He could be a great help to them and it's not like they were all fighting again. A part of her actually hoped that the handcuffs would never come off, but that would be too much of a burden to ask from Draco. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep, hoping tomorrow would be a better day.

**(: Enjoy; Loves x**


	9. Chapter 9

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**HORCRUX **

The days spent at Grimmauld's Place after that were long days spent in fear and mostly thinking about where the next Horcrux may be. Hermione spent most of her time reading up on breaking lock charms or corroding metal, but occasionally her eyes will flicker towards Draco who would be sitting inches away from her, either reading a book himself or just looking at her read. Her cheeks reddened when she realises Draco staring at her with his dreamy silvery-grey eyes, but Draco seemed to be unbothered by it. He realised that being stuck next to a person 24 hours a day can really show you who they truly are. For instance, Draco found out that Hermione was absolutely keen upon oral hygiene. He never understood how anyone would care so much about their teeth until he met Hermione. He had never seen someone brush their teeth so thoroughly, and he was amused by her.

Hermione on the other hand found out that Draco absolutely loved the colour black, and every colour which looked black from a far distance.

'Hermione its green, look at it properly!'

'Draco don't you ever get sick of wearing such dark colours? You look like you're attending a funeral every other day,'

'Come on Granger, you have to admit that the dark colours look amazing against my skin,'

'If not for your lips, you look like a black and white photograph, even your eyes are grey!' Hermione started laughing of the idea of the beautiful multicoloured world containing one oddly monochrome Draco Malfoy.

'Ha-ha. Very funny, at least I look classy,' Draco straightened out his jet black suit, smirking at Hermione, and so since that day Hermione had came to a conclusion that Draco loved how dark colours contrasted his flawless pale skin, emphasizing on his piercing silver eyes. They grew closer and closer each day, and the handcuffs became more of a blessing than a burden.

On a cold Saturday morning, Hermione woke up to Draco sitting next to her, cradling his left hand in his right, using his wand to what seems like burning through the metal. It was silent but Hermione could feel the heat conduct form his handcuff to hers. 'What are you doing to the handcuff Draco? Have you finally found a way to get it off?' Her voice croaked as it was her morning voice, but she sprang up in excitement to look at what Draco was doing. All of a sudden a rush of sadness flooded inside of her. She was not ready to let Draco go, not yet. She told herself that every day she would try to distance herself from him but what happened was the complete opposite. Day by day she found herself noticing the little quirks of him, like how he blinks more when he's nervous, his lusciously long eyelashes batting at her when he catches her staring back at him. The way he wakes up in the morning at takes ten minutes before trying to sit up, his eyes wide open but his body still lying down; and his warmth. Hell, he made sleeping so much easier with his warm body next to hers, which she would secretly snuggle up to when the night was cold. She could swear that he knew she was doing it on purpose, yet he let her sleep dangerously close to him.

'No, not yet. But, I'm writing your name on it,' Draco replied, eyes fully concentrated on the piece of metal. He was carving Hermione's name into the handcuff, the thought which lead Hermione to smile and blushe profusely.

'What are you doing that for?' Hermione bit her lip to prevent herself from letting out a giggle of flattery.

'Well, I was thinking. This thing reminds me of you. Strong, brave, exceptionally clean, simple- in a good way of course-, noisy and stubborn especially,' Draco replied Hermione, still concentrated on getting her name right.

'Noisy and stubborn?'

'Yes, Granger. Noisy because you can talk endlessly about something small like toothpaste and stubborn because you don't really listen to anyone,' he looked up to Hermione and smirked at her. Hermione couldn't help but smile back at Draco. She found him playful and humorous, although she would not admit it. If she did, she wouldn't hear the end of it from Draco. She didn't find it annoying; it was just quite amusing to see him not get what he wants.

'Come on Malfoy, let's see it then.' Hermione bent over to Draco as he was brushing off the last bit of excess metal. Draco covered it immediately and stood up.

'Not now, I'm hungry let's go eat.' He urged Hermione to follow him as she looked up to him suspiciously.

'Draco Malfoy, you do know that I'm the last person in the world that you can hide things from now that we're stuck together.' She pointed out bluntly.

'Well yes and no. If you trust me you'll respect that I didn't write anything bad about you and I'll show you when I want to. Fine by you, Granger?'

'Fine Malfoy.' She pursed her lips and walked out, not looking at Draco to convey her discontent.

'Come on Hermione-ee, don't be like that.' He pulled her back so that they were facing each other, and then pouted at Hermione, hoping to make her smile. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows at him, but eventually gave in and laughed at him and his adorable puppy eyes. Just at that moment Ron cleared his throat and the pair turned to look at him.

'Ron! You can walk again!' Hermione squealed in delight, running towards Ron to hug him.

'Now I can hug you properly again! How are you feeling? Do you hurt anywhere? Are you hungry? Breakfast is served already! I hope you like it, the foods' pretty decent since I'm the one not cooking,' she had a broad smile on her face and was nearly in tears of joy when she saw he was well. Ron swallowed hard and decided to let the Malfoy situation slide. Hermione was happy, and that was all that mattered to him. He smiled at Hermione and his blue eyes glistened as he stared at her, holding on to her free hand.

'I'm fine 'Mione, and I'm not that hungry. I feel rather refreshed, really, but I guess a bite or two won't hurt,' he replied nicely.

'Someone alert the Daily Prophet! For once in his life Ronald Weasley does not feel like eating!' Hermione said teasingly, letting out a shocked gasp at the end. Ron laughed and then shook his head, peering over to Draco who was looking quite sour from being excluded from the conversation.

'Hello Malfoy, you still alive over there?' Ron asked half-serious, half-playful, almost rubbing in his face that he's excluded.

'Barely, you have no idea what it feels like to be stuck with Granger over here,' he smirked at Ron, rubbing it in his face that he got to spend more time with Hermione than he did, challenging Ron. His silver eyes stared back at Ron menacingly, inviting Ron to pounce on him and start fighting.

'Hey!' Hermione turned to Draco and shouted at him, but Draco was remained his eye contact with Ron.

'Oh I think I have a pretty clear idea, six years of it,' he blinked at Draco and then proceeded downstairs to eat lunch.

'You know Malfoy, sometimes I think you're forming a better relationship with my best friends,' Hermione mused.

'That, is because I am charming, not stubborn, my dear Miss Granger' he chuckled and lead Hermione down the stairs. Hermione was happy that they were getting along well, and was relieved that she didn't have to deal with boy drama like back in school. When they reached downstairs Harry was already eating silently on the counter. His eyes were on the Daily Prophet, which was brought in by Kreacher. He looked very worried as he read it.

'Harry, what's wrong?' Hermione asked, now equally worried from looking at Harry.

'Snape's headmaster now, which was quite expected, but this article is quite curious,' Harry slid the newspaper to Hermione, who read out the contents for everyone else to hear.

**THE NEW HOGWARTS**  
><em>- Tamara Rowle <em>

_Current Headmaster Professor Severus Snape, who has previously been Potion's Master of the school has implemented a new security system, by having intense classes of Duelling, replacing the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Professor Snape had commented that this new class is 'proven to be more effective in preparing students in the future'._

_Besides the above, there has been heavy guard upon the gates of Hogwarts to prevent infiltration of the party supporting Undesirable No.1 Harry Potter. There have been rumours of the student body creating a organisation opposing the school but after several raids by staff it has been confirmed that the organisation had either been aborted or had never been formed._

_Vice-headmistress Amycus Carrow had explained that the students are 'properly educated and would not try to go against the school system', and that she is very proud of the new education system structured by her brother Alecto Carrow and her. They intend to reassure parents that their students that their children are safe from any possible danger and are receiving proper education since there had been various debates on the removal of the O.W.L examination._

'They're breeding Death Eaters in Hogwarts,' Draco concluded after looking at the article.

'This is terrible! Those poor kids!' Hermione bit her lip as she thought about the First Year's.

'That's not what's curious, 'Mione. It's the fact that there's '_heaving guard upon the gates of Hogwarts'_, that's interesting. Why do they think that Hogwarts is a threat to us? Unless-'

'There's a Horcrux hidden there!' Ron mumbled, his mouth stuffed with food.

'Exactly, Ron. I have a feeling You-Know-Who hid one of them there. Or else what would we want with them?'

'Then again, the article may be false,' Draco said suggestively, his eyes scanning through the document again.

'It's written by a Rowle's sister. We can't trust this entirely,' Draco looked up to Harry, who was thinking of a plan on how to get back into Hogwarts.

'We know for sure that we can't believe the part about the students are safe and are receiving proper education, I mean come on, how can removing the most important examination allow them to receive proper education, that's absurd!' Hermione exclaimed.

'Hermione, you aren't serious. The school is in danger and you're concentrating on their education? Harry, priorities,' Ron turned to Harry and triggered a chuckle from him. _Hermione, always the bookworm,_ Harry thought.

'Well Potter, what's the plan?' Draco clasped his hands together, and Hermione jerked slightly.

'Ah, sorry Hermione.' Draco smiled at Hermione. Ron glared at them with his piercing blue eyes, but it was unnoticed because they were concentrated on Harry.

'We're going back to Hogwarts,' Harry nodded.

'I can help you with that,' Draco smirked.

'Malfoy, I'm very grateful of you helping us all this time, but with no disrespect, I would like to ask, why are you doing this? Aren't you supposed to be against us?' Harry asked sincerely, hoping not to provoke some violent reaction from Draco but Draco simply chuckled.

'I don't know if I can make you trust me, Potter, but I don't want to be on that side, and that's being proven the moment I saved Granger. Besides, I'm still considered a Death Eater, I can help you get past without suspicion.'

'Draco, are you sure you want to do this? If you get caught, you're worse than dead,' Hermione placed a hand on Draco's arm, and inched closer to his face, looking deep into his eyes.

'Well then, we better make sure I don't get caught now.' He winked at Hermione, bringing Ron's nerves to the edge.

'That's it; I've been spending the past few days looking at you two. What the bloody hell is going on?' Ron slammed his fist against the table, eager for answers. Hermione was naturally shocked and jerked the moment she heard the loud noise, but Draco casually turned towards Ron who was sitting next to Harry opposite them, and blinked at him, knowing that at one point he boy was going to break.

'Ron, what are you talking about? There's _nothing_ going on.' Hermione felt herself being dishonest as she replied Ron, but there really wasn't anything going on between them. Besides spending every moment of the past week with Malfoy, learning to tolerate him, talking to him and even sleeping next to him, she felt like they were getting somewhere, but on the surface it was nothing, or so she presumed that Draco didn't think that there was anything going on. Just two people, currently learning to treat each other properly, stuck to each other until god knows when.

'I've seen the way he looks at you, and the little things that you do which absolutely doesn't make sense to me. Why the bloody hell are you stuck to that ferret anyways,' Ron spat bitterly in his sulky, jealous tone of voice.

'Weasel, I'm right here, and I'll be right there if you don't shut your trap,' he pointed straight at Ron's throat, threatening to strangle him.

'Guys, let's take this down a few notches. Look, Ron, it's good enough we have Malfoy on our side, and if there were anything going on between him and `Mione, she'd tell us straight away, ain't that right `ermione,' Harry stood up and put his hand between them, then turned to Hermione, which nodded frantically in agreement to Harry. Draco simply raised and eyebrow at Ron, who was bloody pissed at the moment.

'And Malfoy; I would really appreciate it if you don't try to kill anyone at the moment, and it'll be very kind of you to not speak rudely to them too,' Harry glanced at Draco with his green eyes, trying to handle the situation in a calm manner.

'Fine, as long as he doesn't try to step down Granger's throat.' Draco ran his right hand through his hair, turning away from Harry, and out of the blue, Ron punched Draco straight in the face.

**POW! However much I want to try to make Ron look as caring as possible, he's still the jealous type so there, Ron punched Malfoy. O:  
>Anyway, enjoy [&amp;&amp;review] There won't be any updates next week as I am going overseas D:<br>Loves x **


	10. Chapter 10

**With All My Heart, Forever**

**THE WEASEL AND THE FERRET**

'BLOODY _FUCKING_ DAMNIT WEASEL!' Draco ran his hand over the bottom of his nose, feeling the warm blood ooze out of his nostril. As a reflex he shoved his plate to the side of the table, causing it to shatter after it touched the ground. With his Seeker speed he hurled across the table to grab Ron by the collar with his free hand, inching closer and about to strangle him.

'Draco, don't' Hermione begged, feeling slightly intimidated by Draco's sudden burst of anger.

'Get your hand off me bloody ferret!' Ron barked. He struggled to pull himself away, but his recent recovery haven't allowed him optimum levels of strength yet, and Draco was strong.

Malfoy tightened his grip around Ron's collar and started choking him single-handedly. Although Draco had to lean over the table to reach Ron, along with being restrained by Hermione, he managed to start choking Ron by the neck.

'Malfoy, let him go,' Harry said forcefully, but it was ignored by Draco.

'Stop it! Draco, just stop it. Draco!' Hermione shouted and yanked at Draco's arm but he didn't budge. His grey eyes looked menacing as they pierced through Ron's blue ones, ignoring the pain of the blood trickling down his nose.

'Malfoy, let Ron go! MALFOY!' Hermione screamed, and Draco hesitantly let go of Ron, sensing pain in Hermione's voice. Ron's face was red from the blood rush and he was coughing from the lack of oxygen. Draco turned to look at Hermione who had panicked to the extent that she had actually started crying. The actions of the Slytherin scaring her to the bone.

Draco sat back down to blow of some steam, avoiding any eye contact with the ginger bitch. He only stopped because he was scaring Hermione, and he didn't want to see her sad because he was having a fight with her fucking friends. He looked over to Hermione, who was glancing over at Ron now, to see if he was alright. She dared not make a move to approach him, because she would be backfired with the 'I told you so' look in his enraged face.

'You see what I fucking mean,-' Ron intended to continue but was stopped by Harry, shaking his head no towards him. The situation was too delicate, and since it ended, it better not start again. Ron forcefully stood up, kicking his chair back and causing it to let out a loud scrape as it was dragged against the floor, he slammed his hands against the table and went up to his room, shoving past Harry.

' `Mione, sort Malfoy out, I'll try to get through to Ron.' Harry read Draco's mind before he had time to act, and went up the stairs to settle his best friend.

'That slimy git, bloody asshole, fucking ginger.' Draco stood up while swearing under his breath, ready to retrieve his wand from his pocket when he felt Hermione placed a hand over his. She stood up in front of him, shaking her head no while looking deep into his eyes, hoping that he would understand the situation. After all, his nose was still broken, and who could say no to those beautiful sad eyes of hers. She had no words at all for Malfoy.

'Fine. Only because I've outgrown that sad excuse of a human being,' Draco replied, saying it especially loud just so that Ron could hear it.

Episky!' Hermione muttered, and with a loud crack, Draco's nose was back in place. He screwed his eyes shut and shook his head with the sudden relief from the pain.

'Thanks Granger,' he mumbled, eyes fixed on the staircase where Ron had just went up a few moments ago. Hermione wiped her tears away, sitting down silently next to Draco to continue her breakfast. She didn't know what to say to him, whether to scold him for his actions, or not. He was just angry that Ron hit him, but he was pretty intimidating when he was angry.

'So, Weasley has a thing for you huh?' Draco rested his head against his palm, elbow on the table so that he could face Hermione as she tried to avoid his eye contact while she was eating.

'He's just being protective,' she mumbled softly, not intending to continue the conversation. After all she was still disappointed in his actions.

'No, Potter is protective. Weasel is plain jealous, of me.' Draco smirked, eyeing Granger to see her response. Hermione blinked at the plate of pie in front of her, unsure of how to respond to him. She had to admit that she did have feelings for Ronald, and she certainly did miss him, but she didn't like it when he was being all sour and angry. In a flash all the tension dissipated, and apparently they were back to normal again.

'And why would he be jealous of you?' Hermione raised an eyebrow at Malfoy, expecting a solid answer from his previous statement.

'Well, look at me Granger, isn't it obvious why any guy would be jealous of me?' Draco waggled his eyebrows, pushing his ego to its limits just to annoy Hermione. Although, it was hard to deny that Draco was right, why wouldn't Ron be threatened by his best friend being stuck with his personal enemy who happened to be a rather dashing bloke.

'No Malfoy, I can't see it. It's shrouded by that thick mist of your bloody ego and self-absorbance.' Hermione rolled her eyes and continued eating, trying to avoid the whole 'The Great Draco Malfoy' conversation which they had bantered about several times in the past few days. To be honest, Hermione secretly thought that it was one of Malfoy's favourite topics to talk about, himself; and one of his favourite reactions from her is to see her annoyed face trying to deny everything he said. Draco knew for sure that she couldn't stay mad at him if he'd use this conversation. It was foolproof.

'Come on Hermione, you know you're going to give in some day,' Draco retorted. He didn't like the way Potter and Weasley called her `Mione. It was simply a bad nick name for an amazing name like hers. Before this, Malfoy had no problem at all dealing with them, with Ron sick, Harry had steered clear of any possible conflict because he saw the importance of them not going against each other. Harry matured, too, like Draco did. They didn't expect Ron to behave as maturely as Harry and Draco did, and they were right. He was still ill-tempered, but he did care about Hermione, with all his heart.

'I won't say I definitely won't give in, with your daily routine of reminding me how so-called amazing you are, but not soon. You still haven't proven that you are anything close to what you claim you are,' Hermione reasoned.

'My face is already proof, my dear Granger, and I'm simply stating facts,' Draco leaned closer to Hermione, so that all she saw when he turned to his direction was his face, and his flawless features from his nicely shaped eyebrows to his lusciously long blonde eyelashes, to those enchanting stormy grey eyes, down to his sharp nose, followed down to his perfect kissable lips. Draco Malfoy was perfect alright, if it were possible for any person to reach perfection. A part of him felt obliged to do this every day, to boast about himself to Granger and then make her give in, partially flirting with her while getting to know her better.

At this point, he was very comfortable to be around Hermione- besides the fact that she was a girl and sometimes there would be a few misunderstandings when it came to shower time- , and it was quite a refreshing feeling for him because he never felt that way towards anyone else. Parkinson had always been slobbering over him, so eager to please him that it annoyed him to the bone, and Greengrass just wasn't his type. But Hermione, she was absolutely different. She knew when to make a comment about him, and sometimes it may be slightly annoying for someone to point out his flaws, but it kept him grounded and wholesome. Deep inside he knew that he didn't mean all the things he said about himself- although he admitted that he was not the bad looking- but if it annoys the hell out of Granger, then it's worth mentioning at least once a day.

The best part about their little quarrels is that at the end of it, one of them will say something pleasant to make them feel mutual about the situation, because if one of them felt offended it would be hell for the other, being stuck to someone who is pissed off at you from something you said. This time the quarrel ended with Hermione saying,

'If your face is proof then why do you spend more time looking at me than at the mirror?' Hermione turned to him and raised an eyebrow, trying to pull of the trademark Malfoy smirk. She wasn't going to seem weak in front of him.

'Ah, Hermione. Trying to fish for compliments?' he waggled his eyebrows at her, looking deeply into those mischievous brown eyes of hers.

'No, I'm simply stating facts, Malfoy!' she giggled lightly, flashing a cheeky grin to Draco who was slightly shocked by Hermione's response.

'Fine, I will admit that you are a sight for sore eyes so long you admit that I am the most amazingly perfect person that you have, and will ever meet in your entire life,' Draco took in a deep breath of air, looking upwards to emphasize his aura or superiority, which resulted in Hermione bursting out in laughter. She enjoyed how Draco would do things of that sort to make her laugh. He was definitely the most charming person she had ever met.

'No, not today. Maybe not ever, even. So don't press your luck Draco! And hurry up and eat. Your food's getting cold,' she urged, ending the argument almost instantly. Draco shook his head and continued eating, thinking about how he could be so carefree when the world outside these walls were a total havoc, and the only problems which he were facing were ginger weasel wanting to beat him up and whether Granger would submit to him being perfect, which was a total joke. His stomach cringed when he thought about the day where they were going to leave Grimmauld Place, and what of Hermione. When she figures out how to unlock the handcuffs what would it be for them? Would she still be this caring towards him if she weren't forced to spend every moment with him? He swallowed hard, and realised that he lost his appetite. Looking over to Hermione who was engrossed in eating her breakfast, he decided to toy around with his food so that she didn't realised that there was anything wrong with him.

..

'Ron, what's the matter?' Harry knocked on Ron's room door, and entered without waiting for permission from his best friend. Ron was sitting on his bed, hugging his knees towards his chest, looking very angry.

'Don't you feel bothered that that bloody ferret is constantly having his hands all over `Mione?' Ron spat bitterly, refusing to look at Harry. Harry shut the door silently to prevent Draco from possibly hearing in on their conversation. He slowly approached Ron and sat on the edge of the bed, understanding that he needed some space to cool off.

'Ron, don't you think that you owe it to him enough to treat him properly for what he did for Hermione?'

'I have been, Harry. It's just that I can't stand that he's always close to her, like he's trying to rape her or something. Don't you feel it too mate? And didn't you see what he bloody did to me?'

'Yeah you're right. But that's because you, well, started it,' Harry explained softly, trying not to enrage Ron further. 'Ron, have you considered,' Harry swallowed hard, 'that you might be, jealous of Malfoy?'

'Jealous? Why would I possibly be jealous of that annoying harasser of a bloody foul git?' Ron shouted. Harry simply took it all in, expecting that Ron would react this way, and it was obvious that Ron had cultivated feelings for Hermione. He might be crazy in love with her but he wouldn't have admitted it to Harry, and now that Malfoy is in the picture, he might never admit it to anyone. Harry didn't know what to do, it wasn't like he could shoo Malfoy away any time soon. Hermione's the brilliant one, and if she can't find a way to get rid of those ruddy things then none of them could. Ron had already opted for Malfoy to blast his own arm out but it was rejected by Hermione who deemed it absolutely barbaric and it was her fault. If anyone had to sacrifice their arm it would be her, which brought Ron to the edge even more because Malfoy was actually being defended by Hermione herself, something Hermione barely did for anyone except for Harry and himself.

'Okay Ron, whatever floats your boat. But please, you know how messed up everything is out there. Please don't try to create any problems with Malfoy because we do need him to get back into Hogwarts,' Harry tried to phrase his words as properly as he could, so that Ron wouldn't think that he was siding Malfoy, but there was no way to conceal the fact that Harry wasn't on his best friend's side on this argument.

'I won't as long as he keeps his hands to himself and away from `Mione,' Ron rolled his eyes and turned away from Harry, facing the window this time. Oh what he would give for all of this to end soon. He did miss home, and his nice soft bed, along with the amazing smell of his mother's cooking which usually filled the house. Out of the trio, he still had a reason to quit it all and go back home, for Harry had nowhere to return as long as Voldemort was out to kill him, and Hermione had already sacrificed her parents for the sake of helping him. Ron on the other hand, had done this solely to support his best friend, because Harry needed the help, and Ron was always there for him. The days have been especially dull and there hadn't been any progress except for Ron's recovery, which he reckoned that he could've recovered faster under the care of his own mother. It's been quite some time since he saw his family, and it would be a lie to say that he didn't miss them. Ron sat alone in his room for the rest of his room, indulging in losing himself in thoughts of his family and all the good times they had together, instead of acknowledging the breathing ferret being locked to his best friend.

..

'Well I guess all whose left is Potter now,' Draco chuckled while watching Hermione finish up her breakfast.

'What do you mean?' Hermione turned to Draco, puzzled.

'He's the only one who hasn't took a blow at my nose,' he replied. At that moment, Hermione recalled third year, when she had punched him in the nose for being a terrible person. She blushed immediately in embarrassment of remembering the incident, feeling sorry for Draco.

'I'm really sorry about that, though, I must say you deserve it,' Hermione tried to hide her face behind her bushy hair and go on without Draco noticing her cheeks reddening.

'Because I was a 'foul loathsome evil little cockroach' back then? Draco chuckled, imitating Hermione's voice a little bit too high-pitched.

'I do not sound like that! But yes, maybe not evil, but a foul loathsome little cockroach,' Hermione laughed.

'How about now Granger, am I still what you claimed I am a few years ago?' Draco inched closer to Hermione, tilting his head towards her.

'Well, no. You changed,' Hermione turned to him seriously, 'Now you're more of a foul ferret, you're not little anymore, that's for sure,' she playfully winked at him and started laughing. Draco tried to ignore the fact that she was still playfully insulting but ended up laughing along while shaking his head in disagreement.

'But I'm not loathsome anymore, right? You don't loathe me as much as you did in the third year.'

'No, you're not loathsome anymore, but hey, who can hate a ferret?' Hermione started laughing again, not intending to get serious about this. In fact she was avoiding it on purpose. If Draco were to ask her whether she loathed him, the answer was a very solid no. But if he were to continue from there and ask her what she felt about him, she didn't have a straight answer. She could tell him that she thought that he was a good friend, but she was a sore liar and he would be able to tell immediately. But she didn't know how to feel about Draco, they just fit. She hadn't had any terrible quarrels with him and he could handle all her habits and vice versa. Hermione had considered the fact that they were being stuck together as one of the reasons that they had to compromise with each other, but what if they weren't? Could they fit like before? Unknowingly, Hermione was falling bit by bit for Draco, and every day they are together those feelings grew stronger.

'Apparently Weasel can,' he replied quietly, and all the laughter faded away. The tension of the silence was too much for Hermione to handle and she nudged Draco lightly on the shoulder, but before she could open her mouth to speak, Draco let out a loud scream of pain, flipping over his plate of breakfast by accident.

'Draco! I'm sorry did I hit you too hard or something?' Hermione stood up immediately, but Draco was already off his chair over the floor writhing in pain, crunched up into a ball as his right hand clutched onto a part of his body.

'Tell me what's wrong Draco, please. You're scaring me,' Hermione began to panic, not knowing what to do. He looked at her blonde companion as if someone had Crucio-ed him right on the spot, but no, he was clutching on to something, it was his left arm.

'Gran-ah-ger, It's urgh, it's the Mark, argh, it-'and he yelped in pain again. Hermione had to turn him over so that she could get a close look of his arm without him crouching over it. The Dark Mark which was branded on his skin was turning from black to a dark ashy red, and the skin around Draco's arm was reddening from the burning. The body of the serpent was moving in a wave motion, and it seemed like the waves were radiating heat off of them onto Draco's arm. Hermione was helpless as she watched the head of the serpent move to stab its fangs deep into Draco's arm and blood started oozing out in small droplets. She had never witnessed such sorcery before.

'Gr-granger, m-make it stop!'

**Last post of the week :D ! Yep.  
>PS : I made a mistake and Draco's Dark Mark is on his LEFT arm instead of right [yes I realised after staring at the GIF of him pulling up his sleeve on tumblr a thousand times] , so yeah, I tweaked the previous chapters a li'l.<br>****Enjoyy (; Loves x**


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